The capital city Beijing will coordinate with neighboring Hebei Province and Tianjin Municipality to maintain security and
ease traffic flows during the upcoming 2008 Olympic Games,
according to an agreement signed under the auspices of a regional
security framework on Tuesday in Beijing.
Under the so-called Moat Project, police in Hebei and Tianjin
will make sure that traffic flows into and out of the capital
remain orderly during large-scale activities, emergencies and bad
weather.
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Hebei and Tianjin have also promised to step up inspections in
areas abutting Beijing by targeting suspicious vehicles and people,
reporting information about crimes to their counterparts and
preventing the "three evil forces" terrorism, separatism and
extremism from taking root in border areas or finding their way
into the capital city.
The three sides also agreed to "give no hiding places to
criminals" and to work together to "prevent large-scale hazardous
environmental or public health accidents".
"Unlike in the past, when we worked independently from each
other, now police from the three sides will work together on every
procedure, from filing a case to solving it," said Ma Zhenchuan,
director of the Beijing Social Security Bureau, during the signing
ceremony.
The Moat Project has taken the unprecedented step of creating
guidelines for an annual conference and systematic cooperation
between the three sides, said Ma.
The framework warns of severe administrative penalties for
officials who, as a result of dereliction of duty, allow the
existence of loopholes that affect the whole region.
Zhou Benshun, deputy secretary general of the Central Committee
of Political and Legislative Affairs, who presided over Tuesday's
conference, said the Moat Project would be a key part of the
security effort for the 2008 Games.
The agreement will also create a natural safety screen to reduce
the potential of any harm to the capital city, he said.
Established in 1997, the Moat Project has been a powerful force
in maintaining security and economic progress in the region, said
Zhou.
For example, police from the three areas worked together to
crack about 400 criminal cases, crack down on 10 gangs and round up
more than 300 criminal suspects.
(China Daily January 12, 2007)